The Many Details Of Breathing Are Not One-Size-Fits-All, But Highly Individualized And Face Mask Policy Can Therefore Not Be One-Size-Fits-All
Reason #138 that Face Masks Hurt Kids
Dear Reader,
The wearing of a face mask to protect against a respiratory virus is an act of grand deceit. It is a behavior that defies research on the topic. Wearing a face mask, as this article (one of many) points to — is unsafe to do and is ineffective.
Until the narrative around mandatory masking has changed, each day by 6am Eastern, I will both post here and send out a science-based reason why no one should wear a face mask.
I ask that you help me circulate these pieces to those around you who you believe could most benefit from them. It is important not to remain silent on this topic. These are important discussions to be having with friends, family members, business owners, healthcare practitioners, public servants, and others in the community.
-Allan
Mask policy needs to be entirely individualized, like all other medical care. Individual care is the foundation of medicine and medical ethics.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, in a 1991 landmark piece on the topic of dead space and respiratory protective equipment, L. A. Morris summarizes research on the topic. Morris writes:1
“It was found, not surprisingly, that breathing zone carbon dioxide concentrations increased in proportion to the wearer’s metabolic rate. While carbon dioxide concentrations could be reduced to the 1% level by increasing the suit flow rate, this was less effective at high metabolic rates (>325 Wm-2).”
Metabolic rates and work rates both play a role in the appropriateness of a mask on a given individual. Morris continues:
“Comte,2 measured breathing zone carbon dioxide concentrations in wearers of self contained breathing apparatus and a variety of air fed equipment. The protocol involved 30 minutes cycling at 50 W, followed by a 10-minute bout at 100 W. Carbon dioxide levels again increased with the wearer’s work rate, ranging from 0.25% at rest to a peak value of 1.6% at 50 W. At 100 W there was some evidence of an increase in arterial carbon dioxide levels.”
Morris cites a 1972 study and concludes that there is an individual amount of dead space created, even if everyone in a study wears the same model of mask:
“Leers3 compared the physiological effects of a full face mask with an experimental dead space (split plastic tube). The protocol involved a 75 W bicycle ergometer workload (duration not specified) preceded by a rest period. Respiratory and blood gas parameters were recorded under steady state conditions. Breathing zone carbon dioxide concentrations were not measured directly but were estimated from an empirical formula based on the effective dead space: tidal volume ratio.
“The results showed that there was considerable inter-subject variation in effective dead space and hence in the ventilator responses to the mask or the tube. A mask with a given geometric volume could therefore have widely differing effects on a panel of wearers depending on individual breathing patterns.”
Further uncertainty is created when workloads are added to studies.
As Morris shows, alongside concerns about dead space and breathing resistance, there are individual additional questions even on set tasks of metabolic rates for task — which can show considerable variation — based on factors such as working method, pace, and skill of the individual doing the work.
This research points to the need for a prohibition on one-size-fits-all approaches and considerable research to understand the impacts on the individual. No such effort has taken place to protect masked individuals in the general population, least of all children, who are far less likely to be able to explain difficulties they are having with masks.
This is a longstanding, established aspect of science, intended to protect those wearing a mask from harm, a subset of science that has been entirely done away with over the course of 2020 and beyond, while the common lie from public health officials “safe and effective” is plastered all over in its place.
Morris LA. Dead Space and Inhaled Carbon Dioxide Levels in Respiratory Protective Equipment. HSE Health & Safety Executive. 1991. Retrieved from https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/1991/crr91027.pdf
Comte (1972). [The effect of isolating respiratory protective equipment on body functions]. In German. Atemschutz Informationen; 11(3): 55-60.
Leers (1972). Wirkungen des Kohlendioxids beim Benutzen von Atemschutzgeraten. Atemschutz Informationen; 11:166-235
The bestselling book "Face Masks In One Lesson" by Allan Stevo describes how to never wear a face mask again. The follow-up to the book, "Face Masks Hurt Kids," describes why to never wear a face mask again. We must defeat the awful, narrative around the mandates.
Examples of how face masks hurt kids will be posted to the Lockdown Land Substack each morning by 6am Eastern until the narrative around this ineffective and harmful medical intervention has shifted. Face masks are, in fact, not just harmful to children. Face masks are harmful to everyone. Thank you so much for helping me circulate this research.